New issue of Music & Copyright with US country report

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

Rise in UK music piracy rates as more consumers supplement legal supply with unlicensed access
While the recorded-music sector continues to see growth in sales from music streaming, piracy still lurks in the background. Not so long ago, easy access to a wealth of unlicensed recorded-music content resulted in trade sales worldwide nosediving. However, the rollout of high-speed internet and the advent of streaming turned recorded-music fortunes around. However, a small number of consumers continue to use illegal means to get their music fix. In February, the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) published the results of its latest survey into consumers’ piracy habits across a number of different entertainment sectors. For music, the results were mixed. Almost no consumers were found to be using unlicensed streaming services, but fewer downloaders were sourcing their content from just legal services.

Apple Music gets streaming traction by not being Spotify
Having just seen Spotify’s latest set of quarterly results, we know quite a lot about the world’s largest international music streamer. However, getting metrics on rival outfit Apple Music is a tough task, given that it’s part of the world’s most valuable company and its contribution to a business dominated by iPhone sales is pretty small. But it’s clear that Apple Music is growing steadily and that it is offering a differentiated service to Spotify’s. It needs to continue developing that differentiation to maintain its trajectory while its rival continues to pile the subscribers high. And that shouldn’t be difficult given the breadth of services available to it at the Apple stable.

PRS, LIVENow, and the business of responsible livestreaming licensing
Livestreaming came into its own during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and the segment has become a multibillion-dollar business able to boast large audiences. Some of the biggest audio streaming services are seeing the value of adding video performances to their offerings and are leaning on live concerts both as a marketing tool and as a new revenue stream. However, in common with any form of streaming, the correct licenses are required if rights-holder content is involved. The livestreaming platform LIVENow has fallen foul of licensing requirements and has been taken to task over the problem by the UK authors’ society PRS For Music. Howard Ricklow, a partner at law firm Collyer Bristow and specializing in intellectual property matters, has kindly provided Music & Copyright with his thoughts on the dispute, what the current system is for licensing content from an artist for livestreamed concerts, and what the future is likely to be for hybrid content like livestreamed concerts.

US country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed US music industry report. The US is easily the biggest music market in the world. Each year, the country accounts for more than one-third of the total global recorded-music trade sales and approximately 40% of spending on tickets to live music events. Furthermore, the US is home to the single-biggest live music promoter, Live Nation Entertainment, as well as the two leading performers’ rights organizations (PROs), ASCAP and BMI, and the biggest performance rights organization, SoundExchange. In addition to leading the music world, the US is also the world’s biggest economy, with total GDP last year topping $25tn. In December, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said GDP increased 2.9% in the final quarter of last year compared with quarter three. Year-on-year GDP in the last three months grew 1%. The BEA commented that the GDP gains primarily reflected increases in inventory investment and consumer spending that were partly offset by a decrease in housing investment.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with India country report

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

Shining a critical light on the maturing music-streaming sector
So far in January, the usual suspects have published early recorded-music results for 2022. In all cases, streaming has been the big growth provider, with gains more than offsetting declines of buy-to-own formats. Although the revival of vinyl has mostly continued, growth at a national or international level is now all about subscriptions and advertising. While the next couple of months will see more industry performance releases in the run-up to the IFPI’s assessment of global trade sales, those releases will show that streaming revenue growth rates are slowing. Moreover, it’s a safe bet that national trade associations that include subscriber estimates in their year-end roundups will also show a rates decline. Admittedly it is a little early in the year for bad news, but the reality is the boom in streaming is over. The high growth rates of a few years ago will not be repeated. The industry must also face up to the real possibility that emerging and developed markets may not keep the global growth momentum going.

UPRS annual report illustrates the difficulties of rights collection in Uganda
Ugandan authors’ society Uganda Performing Right Society (UPRS) has published its annual report for 2022, detailing the workings of the society in the year just gone, along with limited collection results and revenue forecasts for the next few years. Few African collective management organizations (CMOs) provide much of an insight into their business activities. However, the UPRS report offers a candid assessment of the difficulties experienced in collecting royalties owed, convincing local artists and songwriters to sign up to the CMO system, and making music users pay royalties for the use of UPRS members’ works. COVID-19 and the impact of a lengthy lockdown in Uganda greatly affected rights collections in the last couple of years, but UPRS is confident that going forward, the society will be able to convince music users of their obligations to pay royalties and generate record collections for its members.

WMG looks to tech to do the work in an entertainment future
WMG is, unlike its peers, making a name for itself as a music technology pioneer. The major music group has been busy building relationships with a variety of tech partners across a range of innovative activities, among them blockchain, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), digital collectibles, and metaverse real estate. In addition, WMG has managed to put together an executive team with strong tech creds and experience with successful tech entertainment brands such as YouTube, Netflix, and Blizzard. The record company’s embrace of new technologies in an industry that has long viewed innovation as an existential threat could serve it well in an increasingly virtual world—if it can stitch together the disparate parts of its tech play.

India country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed India music industry report. India is the second most populous country in the world, behind China. The size of the population exceeded 1.4 billion for the first time last year, while the number of households topped the 300-million mark. According to the most recent United Nations projections, India will overtake global leader China before the end of this decade, with the country’s population expected to peak at 1.7 billion in 2064. Moreover, by 2050, India will account for close to 20% of the rise in the world’s working-age population (15–64-year-olds). However, despite accounting for almost one-fifth of the world’s population, India’s different music industry sectors have always underperformed. Recorded-music sales have long been hindered by widespread music piracy, and rights collections have suffered from adverse legal rulings and a lack of licensing. The live sector struggles with infrastructure shortcomings, and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite the problems, there are signs that the world’s biggest emerging market is living up to its billing. In the last few years, retail sales of recorded-music have been on the up, and rights collections have benefited greatly from a deal between authors’ society IPRS and Google for music use by YouTube. Live music remains the problem sector, with concert tours and festivals only starting to get back on track.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with Italy country report

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

Digital gains are set to boost music revenue, but publishing growth is on track to outshine recorded-music
All the world’s major recorded-music markets and one or two other smaller ones have published midyear trade figures. Music & Copyright’s annual assessment of the results suggests global recorded-music trade earnings from the sale of physical and digital recorded-music and income from music access services are set to register an eighth straight year of growth. However, the size of the rise is expected to be around half the growth rate seen last year. Music publishing is forecast to experience a bumper year, with global revenue expected to hit record levels. All the main publishing revenue streams will increase, but digital will be the star performer. Also, performance income will return to growth after three consecutive years of decline.

Polish authors’ society ZAiKS reports a year of hope in challenging times
Polish authors’ society ZAiKS has confirmed a return to growth in collections having reported its first fall in rights receipts in 2020 for five years. Total revenue in that year suffered from the effects of the government’s efforts to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, with performance-based income streams hit the hardest. While the virus still impacted some collection sources, public performance receipts rose sharply, with big increases in revenue from online and private copying. Broadcasting income was up year on year, although the revenue source as a share of total receipts was down slightly. Digital registered another jump in collections, with income benefiting from the continued rise in the popularity of streaming in Poland. Distributions took a tumble, while costs were flat and the society’s administration rate was down.

The time is right for music to make its gaming play
The music business is becoming ever more enmeshed with the world of gaming. One of the leading protagonists is Amazon through its Amazon Music and Twitch gaming properties that the e-commerce and online giant is increasingly deploying as part of its cross-entertainment strategy. On the gaming side, Epic Games’ Fortnite title has been something of a pioneer in bringing music performances to large audiences of gamers—and it has ambitious plans to remain on the front line. Also in the mix is Spotify, which this year became the first music streamer to make moves on Fortnite. What’s needed now is something more innovative than the in-game concert—and immersive customization could be the vital component here.

Italy country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Italy music industry report. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy’s recorded-music sector had experienced an erratic few years, largely due to the lingering dominance of physical formats. However, digital trade sales overtook physical formats in 2018, with a sharp rise in subscription sales more than offsetting falls in CD album sales and vinyl. The pattern of sales continued into 2019, but the toll on physical formats and performance rights in 2020 resulted in a flat year overall. Last year saw sales bounce back strongly, and so far this year, the gains from streaming and viny have continued. UMG remains the clear leader in market share terms, ahead of SME and WMG. All the majors took share from the independent sector. After suffering a sharp fall in collections in 2020, revenue for the local authors’ society SIAE returned to growth in 2021. However, the total remains a long way short of prepandemic levels. Ticket sales to live music events picked up in 2021, but it will take another few years before sales top the record highs of 2019.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with Netherlands country report

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

Increase in global performance rights distributions, with further growth expected for this year
Performance rights distributions to record companies (producers) and performers increased in 2021 for the second year in a row. A fall in 2019 saw payments slip below the $3bn mark after reaching the milestone for the first time in 2018. Last year saw global performance rights distributions top the $3bn mark again, with forecasts of more growth to come for this year. Producers’ and performers’ rights have become an important source of income in recent years, given the long period of demise of recorded-music trade revenue. The return to growth through increased consumer interest in streaming and subscriptions has somewhat overshadowed the importance of performance rights, but the revenue source remains a key earnings generator.

Streaming and vinyl are the midyear positives in a slowing French recorded-music sector
French music trade group SNEP has reported a positive first six months for recorded-music sales. Although revenue from physical formats suffered a decline after rising sharply last year, SNEP said the resurgence of vinyl had continued. Moreover, despite a fall in CDs, the format was still the second-biggest income source for local music companies. Audio subscriptions added the most extra to the midyear trade total, but it was video streaming that registered the biggest rise. The overall number of streams served in the six months was up, but it was paid subscribers that drove the increase, with the number of advertising-supported streams served largely unchanged. SNEP noted that the cost-of-living crisis in France has not impacted music sales so far, but the trade group was continuing to monitor the situation.

Stock music’s stock rises as the creator economy expands
Royalty-free, or production, music is a big business and worth around $1bn a year in revenue. Demand is rising steeply, thanks in large part to the burgeoning use of social video online. This has led to the launch of a raft of startups seeking to provide custom, rights-free sounds for a monthly subscription. A small number of providers have cut through and are leading the way, but the space is a little bit too overpopulated. There has already been some consolidation, but more is on the way, especially as major international investment firms are now also in the mix. Stock music suppliers also need to look beyond the creator economy for revenue and deploy technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) to boost their offerings.

Netherlands country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Netherlands music industry report. After more than a decade of falling trade revenue from recorded-music sales, the Netherlands has experienced a sustained period of growth. In common with most developed markets in Europe, Dutch record company earnings were hit by the effects of online piracy as a result of the shift from physical formats to digital. However, for the last seven years, trade revenue has been on the up and further growth is expected for this year and beyond. Digital accounted for more than 80% of the combined digital/physical trade revenue last year. UMG suffered a dip in its distributor share, with SME and WMG both making gains. However, UMG’s share remained double that of its closest rivals. Combined collections for the Dutch authors’ societies BUMA and STEMRA edged up last year, after registering the first fall since 2011. Gains for STEMRA just offset BUMA’s decline, with live receipts suffering a second year of sharp decline as a result of the slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 also affected total receipts for producers’ and performers’ society SENA, which were down year on year.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with UK country report

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

US CRB affirms Phonorecords III rates but offers streaming services total cost and bundling gains
The long-running dispute between US rights holders and digital music streaming services over mechanical rates payable for the five years between 2018 and 2022 (Phonorecords III) is almost over. At the beginning of 2018, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) increased the overall percentage of revenue paid to songwriters by streaming services over the five years by 43.8% from 10.5% for the 2012–17 period (Phonorecords II). The rate was set to rise annually and would only reach 15.1% in 2022. However, Spotify, Amazon, Google, and Pandora appealed the ruling, and the rate increase was put on hold. Now, the CRB has confirmed that the rates will apply. Although the decision is a win for authors and publishers, the CRB decided not to change the total content cost (TCC) and bundle definitions and reverted back to the Phonorecords II levels.

Despite ongoing COVID-19 impact, broadcast and digital gains boost SGAE collections
Spanish authors’ society SGAE has published its annual accounts for 2021 after receiving approval from its membership at the June annual general meeting. Total collections were up for the first time since 2018. Although SGAE noted in its report that the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact its results, most performance-based revenue streams returned to growth after suffering sharp falls in 2020. Broadcasting registered the biggest rise of all the main collection sources, with backdated receipts boosting the total. Digital income was up year-on-year, and there were notable gains for on-demand audio and video streaming. Distributions to SGAE members were flat, with domestic payments edging up and monies sent overseas falling. SGAE signed four new representation agreements in 2021. The Spanish society now manages the repertoire of 173 collective management organizations in around 180 countries.

Brands push deeper into music, and now metaverse marketing beckons
Suddenly, leading brands seem to be in the business of releasing albums, with Pokémon and Mastercard making great play of their new recorded-music offerings as part of wider marketing campaigns. Pokémon looks to have cut through with its drop—it’s too soon to assess Mastercard’s album performance—and that may well spur the release of further branded musical offerings. Also, there’s more music industry appetite to work with brands to further monetize content. UMG’s partnerships unit has just launched the UMusic Media Network, offering music for brands to work with, following a similar service rollout from indie distributor UnitedMasters that has already attracted big-hitter Diageo. And while music-brand alliances have long been many and varied, the metaverse is as yet unchartered territory for such partnerships. IHeartMedia clearly believes that’s the case, while WMG really ought to leverage its early-mover position in the virtual world and bring brands onboard.

UK country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed UK music industry report. The UK is the world’s third-largest recorded-music market. Earlier this year, the IFPI said the country maintained its global ranking despite a strong performance by fourth-placed Germany. In common with many other developed markets around the world that suffered from the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, certain sectors of the UK music industry were badly affected. Live music is only now beginning to recover after an 18-month hiatus, while performance-based rights collections took a hit but are now bouncing back. Recorded-music sales held up well, with higher revenue from streaming and vinyl offsetting performance rights and synchronization declines. Last year saw recorded-music trade sales benefit from rising sales of all formats apart from downloads. Furthermore, performance rights and synchronization returned to growth. Digital now generates close to 70% of recorded-music trade sales. UMG maintained its distribution lead over second-placed SME.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with Japan country report

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

Global music market set to double in value, with streaming and live the big growth providers
US investment bank Goldman Sachs has published its latest set of forecasts for the global music industry. In what can only be described as eyewatering numbers, the bank is expecting major growth for the recorded-music, music publishing, and live music sectors. Forecasts for the global total in all years have been raised from the previous estimations published 12 months ago. Streaming gains are set to boost the recorded-music and publishing totals, with growth driven by volume, price, and emerging platforms. Despite the current economic problems, Goldman Sachs believes music streaming will be able to weather any downturn. The bank also sees the digital distribution landscape as competitive, with no one service dominating. Although Spotify is the global leader, the Swedish service is set to lose market share to services currently on the up, such as YouTube Music and Tencent Music Entertainment. Live music is set for a major bounce back after almost two years of disruption, with total revenue for the sector this year almost back to prepandemic levels.

Erratic annual performance for SABAM continues, with growth at home but declining overseas income
Belgian authors’ society SABAM has reported a return to growth for collections, with several of the performance-based revenue streams improving after a year beset by COVID-19 restrictions and sector closures. Broadcasting income increased, but it was background music that recorded the biggest bounce back as receipts rose sharply. Despite the popularity of music streaming in Belgium, digital income was down. However, the dip was caused by an adjustment to previous years’ income accounted for in 2021. Live suffered a second year of tumbling collections, although the rate of decline slowed significantly. Mechanicals benefited from physical formats’ sharp rise in sales. However, the time gap between money in and money out meant distributions were down last year, as payments were based on collections made in the first year of the pandemic.

DIY music needs a dose of creativity, both from artists and distributors
The withdrawal from the do-it-yourself (DIY) music space by two music business big hitters could be taken as a sign that the independent recorded-music scene is flagging. That’s not the case, however, with the likes of TuneCore, DistroKid, and CD Baby still offering what are proving to be essential platforms for up-and-coming artists. And recent changes to pricing should make it easier for musicians to develop new release strategies that make the most of their recorded output. However, it would be great to see these services create more new features that could squeeze greater value out of recordings, as it remains just as difficult for most unsigned artists to make a living from their music.

Japan country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Japan music industry report. Of all the world’s leading recorded-music markets, Japan has arguably been the most erratic, with some sizable differences in annual performance. Looking back over the last 10 years or so, trade revenue from recorded-music sales has been inconsistent, with one or two years of growth followed by a couple of years of decline. However, despite record company income from physical formats continuing to be unpredictable, the digital sector has stabilized. Moreover, following a lengthy reliance on downloads, the subscription sector now generates around three quarters of the total digital revenue for the local industry.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with Italy country report

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

Recorded-music trade growth set to eclipse modest rise in revenue for music publishers
With all the world’s major recorded-music markets and one or two other smaller ones having published midyear trade figures, Music & Copyright‘s annual assessment of the results suggests global recorded-music trade earnings from the sale of physical and digital recorded-music and income from music access services will rise at the fastest ever rate. The big bounce-back in sales of physical formats in some markets will provide a major boost to this year’s global total, along with the continued rise in streaming. Adding to the good news, revenue from performance rights and synchronization is expected to return to growth after a tough 2020. Income for music publishers will also register a positive year after the squeeze on the performance sector from the COVID-19 pandemic took the edge off last year’s growth.

Increase in global performance rights distributions, but fall expected for this year
Performance rights distributions to record companies (producers) and performers edged up last year, following on from a fall in 2019 that saw payments slip below the $3bn mark after reaching the milestone for the first time in 2018. Producers’ and performers’ rights have become an important source of income in recent years given the long period of demise of recorded-music trade revenue. The return to growth through increased consumer interest in streaming and subscriptions has somewhat overshadowed the importance of performance rights, but the revenue source remains a key earnings generator. While last year’s modest increase suggests that distributions defied the COVID-19 pandemic, total payments were partly based on receipts from prior year uses and so the impact on distributions to producers and performers has been delayed.

Financial big guns take aim at the catalogs business
The music industry has seen millions of dollars pour into the acquisition of song rights over the past couple of years, and rights management, which was until recently regarded as something of a backroom business, is making global headlines. Big financial players are now making sizable bets on music catalogs, which have now become firmly established as a new asset class, and valuations are on the up. Active asset management will be the key to future success, and owners will need to really sweat those newly acquired rights to achieve decent returns. Furthermore, while mainstream music will surely continue to make up the bulk of such portfolios, investors should look to pick up unexploited rights in new genres.

Italy country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Italy music industry report. Prior to the pandemic, Italy’s recorded-music sector had experienced an erratic few years, largely due to the lingering dominance of physical formats. However, digital trade sales overtook physical formats in 2018 with a sharp rise in subscription sales more than offsetting falls in CD album sales and vinyl. The pattern of sales continued into 2019 but the toll on physical formats and performance rights in 2020 resulted in a flat year overall. So far this year, sales have bounced back strongly. UMG remains the clear leader in market share terms, ahead of SME and WMG. However, the largest of the three majors saw its distributor share fall last year with SME and WMG both making gains. Total income for the authors’ society SIAE suffered a sharp fall with collections from live performance and background music taking a tumble. Given that the live sector was effectively shuttered for nine months, total spending on concerts and festivals last year was down to the lowest level for more than 20 years.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with South Korea country report

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

ABBA set to take the burgeoning world of avatar performance to the next level
Avatars are beginning to cut through in the music business. TV talent shows are set to provide a new platform for such digital identities, bringing performing avatars to wider audiences, while gaming environments have already shown that there’s fan appetite during a pandemic. Now, serious investment is going into the resources required to create digital versions of artists that are very much like the originals, with the technology delivering better and better facsimiles. However, avatar-driven music performances have to do more than simply deliver clones of physical concerts—there needs to be a good deal of digital value-added to the entertainment experiences to really drive engagement.

Tough year for French authors and publishers as SACEM reports fall in collections
After five straight years of collection growth, French authors’ society SACEM has suffered a dip in total rights receipts. Unsurprisingly, sectors associated with public performance experienced sharp falls because of measures introduced by the government to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus. General rights, which has traditionally been the biggest income source for SACEM, almost halved, while broadcasting revenue was affected by downward pressure on advertising. Furthermore, lower sales of physical formats meant mechanicals contracted. The big positive in the results was the continued rise in digital collections, with last year’s growth the result of renegotiations and new contracts with users as well as revenue growth and settlements. Overseas collections edged up while total revenue from mandates posted year-on-year growth.

Record collections for MCSC despite impact from COVID-19 virus
Royalty collections in China have increased for the 12th consecutive year. In September, the Chinese authors’ society MCSC published its business report for 2020, confirming that total collections had topped the previous year’s record and exceeded CNY400m ($61.9m) for the second straight year. However, the rate of increase in collections was the lowest during the current sustained period of growth. Furthermore, the modest overall rise contrasted with some sizable changes in the different revenue sources. Karaoke registered the highest gain although the total for last year was boosted by the inclusion of prior year receipts. Unsurprisingly, performance-based collection sources were impacted by COVID-19 and the measures taken by local authorities to limit the spread of the virus.

South Korea country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed South Korea music industry report. South Korea’s recorded-music industry is widely considered as the most advanced in the world. Since the turn of the century, the sector has been through a massive transformation, from being almost overrun by piracy to one that is multifaceted with both physical and digital formats and services flourishing. One of South Korea’s unique features is the relatively healthy position for CD album sales. The format remains popular amongst consumers despite the rise of digital access. Furthermore, despite restrictions on consumer movements and the shuttering of the live sector as part of the government’s efforts to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, physical sales increased at a record rate last year. Sales of music subscriptions also registered healthy growth. Korean-produced music is increasingly popular worldwide with a number of K-pop bands scoring major chart success away from their home country. Local music groups dominate recorded-music distribution with the major labels accounting for a low market share.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with Austria country report

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

Court rules no share of UMPG’s Bob Dylan acquisition proceeds should go to coauthor estate
A New York court has ruled that the estate of songwriter Jacques Levy is not entitled to a share of the proceeds from the acquisition of Bob Dylan’s catalog by music publishing major UMPG in December. Levy coauthored a number of tracks with Dylan that were featured on one of the music star’s earlier albums. Although Levy has received royalties for the sale of the tracks, the late author’s wife filed a lawsuit against Dylan and UMPG claiming that the agreement establishing Levy’s royalty rate also covered any sale of the works. However, the court decided otherwise, ruling that the agreement was clear that the contribution by Levy was made as an employee for hire and not a joint author.

Strong quarter and half year results for UMG ahead of September listing
UMG has registered a positive set of results for the second quarter and first half of its 2021 financial year. Subscriptions and streaming were again the stand out revenue stream with the growth rate in the three months the highest for the last seven quarters. Although now a minor source of income for the music company, sales of physical formats grew sharply, while licensing receipts also increased along with merchandize sales. North America remained the dominant source of recorded-music revenue, ahead of Europe and Asia, but it was the rest of the world region that scored the biggest income rise. Music publishing revenue was down in the quarter and half year at reported exchange rates but up at a constant rate measure. Vivendi’s live entertainment and ticketing unit Vivendi Village saw revenue double in the quarter with strong growth reported in the US.

Now is the time to take Twitch-style tipping to another level
Tipping has offered a lifeline to many artists during the COVID-19 pandemic, with live streaming video gaming service Twitch proving popular among musicians. Capability is now being enhanced on social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook as the bigger technology companies see remuneration through tips as a way of ensuring creators stay loyal. However, the tipping ecosystem is beginning to look a little behind the times and is ripe for innovation, especially as the mechanism has demonstrated just how loyal audiences can be to artists. Tippers should be better rewarded for this loyalty, perhaps with exclusives, while musicians deserve a larger cut of the tipping proceeds than they currently get.

Austria country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Austria music industry report. Austria is one of Europe’s smaller music markets. Although well-developed, with a relatively high per-capita spending rate on music, the country could be described as one of Western Europe’s laggards when it comes to the transition from physical formats to digital. Like its bigger neighbor to the north, Germany, which plays host to a large sector of consumers that have long been wedded to the CD album, physical formats accounted for the biggest share of spending on recorded-music in Austria until 2018. However, digital has quickly increased in dominance with streaming the biggest revenue generator for local record companies. Authors’ rights collections in the country suffered a decline last year because of the impact of the COVID-19 virus. Also affected was performance rights revenue for producers and performers. Hardest hit by the virus was the live sector with ticket sales dropping sharply.

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New issue of Music & Copyright with Japan country report

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

US rights holders square up to radio sector in new push to end the performance right anomaly
New legislation aimed at forcing AM/FM radio broadcasters in the US to pay performance royalties to producers and performers has been introduced in Congress. The bipartisan American Music Fairness Act (AMFA) would line up terrestrial broadcasters alongside non-interactive online services which do pay a performance right. The US is unique in the industrialized world for not having a radio broadcast performance right for producers and performers. Previous efforts at legislating on the matter have failed, and despite radio’s role in promoting albums sales and streams waning, the strength of the radio lobby along with US politicians’ unwillingness to upset station owners means the proponents of the latest attempt are unlikely to succeed.

BUMA/STEMRA planning for a second tough year as collections take a hit from the pandemic
BUMA and STEMRA are expecting another difficult year for rights collections in the Netherlands with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic expected to have a negative impact on revenue for the second year in a row. Restrictions placed on consumer movements and the shuttering of the live sector meant combined collections for the societies were down in 2020. However, size of the dip was not as great as first thought. Moreover, although receipts for BUMA fell, STEMRA revenue was up because of new licensing deals and back payments. Distributions also took a hit and are expected to be down again this year. Backdated private copying remuneration for STEMRA is likely to soften the size of the payment decline.

Record companies set their music sights on the podcast format
Stories built around music creation are big on podcasts right now, with leading record companies picking up on the trend to develop content that will build engagement with their artists. Moreover, tie-ups have become the order of the day to ensure that premium music-based product gets made. WMG recently joined forces with Spotify, while SME has gone down the acquisition route to get its hands-on production expertise. Podcast consumption and advertising spend are on the up, so the rewards are there for the podcasts that cut through, while branded content is another promising revenue path. However, podcasts could do with more creativity, and maybe a dash of musical fiction could be the thing to up their narrative pull.

Japan country report
In addition to the usual set of music industry statistics and news briefs, the latest issue of Music & Copyright includes a detailed Japan music industry report. Of all the world’s leading recorded-music markets, Japan has been the most erratic with some sizable differences in annual performance. Looking back over the last decade, total trade revenue from recorded-music sales has been inconsistent with one or two years of growth followed by a couple of years of decline. However, despite record company income from physical formats continuing to be unpredictable, the digital sector has stabilized. Moreover, following a lengthy reliance on downloads, the subscription sector now generates more than two thirds of the total digital revenue for the local industry.

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